James Bond: World of Espionage
James Bond: World of Espionage is a is a single-player and multiplayer menu-based role-playing game developed and published by Glu Mobile as a free app for the Android and iOS platforms. Primarily designed to promote the 2015 James Bond film Spectre, it was released on July 18th 2015. In November 2016, Glu announced that it would shut down the World of Espionage servers on December 30, 2016. The game was a simple menu-based role-playing game played from the perspective of an intelligence agency commander; finding, recruiting, and developing teams of agents. Aside from story-based single-player missions, gamers could also play PvP content (player vs player) by joining an alliance with other players and battling opposing factions, or taking their agency into one-on-one duels against other players. Plot Dr. No After a shark-mauled MI6 agent in Jamaica washes up on shore after investigating a missing persons case near a guano factory owned by Dr. Julius No, M sends Bond to follow up on the case. The factory ostensibly produces organic fertiliser, however it is revealed to be a cover for explosives manufacturing utilising the high concentration of phosphates in guano. After being attacked by assassins before and during a meeting with Miss Taro, one of the Doctor's spies on the island, Bond and fellow trespasser Honey Ryder travel through the mangroves to Dr. No's facility where they are captured by the Doctor's men. There, he dines with Dr. No and is subjected to torture as a pain threshold experiment. Meanwhile, the doctor plans to feed Honey to the crabs, bit by bit. 007 fights back and overcomes him. Dead Again Tomorrow Analysis of Dr. No's explosives by Q Branch found trace elements which matched those used by former IRA bomber and rogue MI6 informant Dorian Reid in Afghanistan. After investigating Reid's activities in Iraq it becomes clear that he plans to detonate a dirty bomb or radiological dispersal device (RDD), spreading a radioactive cloud across Baghdad and leaving Iraq uninhabitable for centuries. Kidnapping Bond's newfound ally Fatima Blunt, Reid ties her to the dirty bomb in the hope of luring the British agent into a trap. Once there, he reveals that his goal is the dissolution of British power by framing 007 and MI6 for the bombing. Bond shoots him and foils his scheme. Diamonds are Forever After Reid is killed in the ensuing firefight, Angolan conflict diamonds are found in his pocket. Bond is sent to infiltrate the diamond-smuggling pipeline which financed Reid, masquerading as smuggler Peter Franks. He is met by Svetlana Koroleva on arriving in Las Vegas and is passed along to the gang's courier Tiffany Case. After being wined and dined by the spy she provides the name of her boss, a powerful socialite named Ruby Cox. Bond finds Cox taking a mud bath at a spa and hands over the diamonds. Ruby then instructs him to play a fixed game of blackjack at a casino to receive their payoff. After 007's cover is blown, she dispatches sadistic assassins Wint and Kidd to kill him. Eventually, the spy convinces them to take both himself and Tiffany Case alive. The assassins oblige and take Bond to Spectreville, where Kidd attempts to torture him with a blow torch. 007 escapes with Tiffany, in the process of which both Wint and Kidd end up crushed below a rail carriage. Ruby isn't keen to follow and after Bond attempts to extract information from her (regarding her employer) he kills her. Golden Rules After finding details of a biological weapon on Cox's hard drive, Q Branch trace a recent transmission to North Korea, where they believe satellite images have detected a bio-weapons facility. 007 is dropped along the Yalu river, near Chosan, and makes his way across the Korean border. Posing as an arms dealer, Bond and his contact Li He dine with Whar Zin, the local warlord. Shortly afterwards Zin has his hit-woman Yana Iskakov make an attempt on Bond's life, resulting in Li's death. After defeating Iskakov in a gladiatorial death match, 007 escapes his captors and continues his investigation, discovering that Zin has created a disease which is now running rampant in the local environment. He further discovers that human testing is being performed by his lead scientist on local villagers. Pocketing a sample from the lab, Bond is taken captive by the warlord's men and is tortured by Iskakov. He eventually escapes and with Zin's men preoccupied combing the forest for him, the spy infiltrates the warlord's bio-weapons facility to stop the spread of the disease at its source. Rather than kill Zin, 007 knocks him unconscious, noting that whoever he is working for will likely finish the job. Slow Down Faster After defeating Zin, Bond recovers a brass key in his prion laboratory which matches a safety deposit box in Switzerland. Analysis by Q Branch reveals that the item is not merely a regular key, but part of a 3D-printed cryptographic hash function. 007 travels to the Alps in search of a matching key, which he discovers in the possession of Anaelle Brouchard, a 'ward' of the mysterious Ludovic de Baleine. Inside the strongbox are a set of plans which outline Baleine's scheme to completely destroy the European Union's currency. Baleine, who believes himself to be a Dauphin of France, plans to seize control of the EU in its wake. Discovering Bond's interference, the Dauphin dispatches assassins led by his tall and immensely strong henchman, Dragomir. After evading the assassin and enlisting Anaelle's help, 007 and his French smuggler contact Justine Dubois infiltrate Baleine's fortress by helicopter, while Anaelle attempts to distract the Dauphin. Bond succeeds at destroying his base of operations and foils his scheme to topple the EU. From Russia with Love After returning from the Alps with the hash function, a Russian defector named Tatiana Romanova approaches MI6's Turkish station, claiming that she can provide MI6 with a cypher which decodes the message. However, she will only defect to Bond, with whom she has allegedly become besotted. 007 flies to Istanbul, where he is met on arrival by Nash, a new MI6 agent working out of Belgrade, and confirms the authenticity of the hash key via Alexander Sechenov, an MI6 mole within the Russian FSB. He then proceeds to meet with station head Kerim Bey, where he witnesses a failed assassination attempt on Kerim's life. The station head suspects the FSB of planting the bomb in his office and uses a secret underground tunnel to spy on them. There, the pair discover that Kerim's old enemy, Krilencu was behind the bombing. Later that evening, 007 accompanies Kerim to the camp of his gypsy friends and judges a dispute between two women. Krilencu shoots Kerim and flees. Bond aids his wounded friend to exact revenge and assassinate him. With Krilencu dead, 007 approaches and seduces the cypher girl, before FSB can send out another killer. Tatiana agrees to deliver a copy of the algorithm at a dead drop, which is retrieved by Papa Diablo, a local courier whom Bond enlisted. It quickly becomes apparent that a Russian FSB agent, who had been tailing 007, was killed by an unknown assailant. Now in possession of the girl and the cypher, Bond meets up with Nash and the three attempt to flee the country on the Orient Express. On board, Nash (actually Red Grant) reveals that he is in fact an assassin, working for an unnamed third party, and was ordered to take the cypher, and their lives. 007 eventually overpowers and kills him. Thunderball After a sub-par medical report, M sends 007 to the Shrublands health spa in Madagascar to get his "triglycerides under 150". Bond is reluctant, wanting instead to investigate a recent incident involving a missing atomic bomber. However, he is compelled to relent and flies to the Madagascan spa, where he is welcomed by therapist Fiona Kelley. As he participates in the various treatments, Bond recognises Captain Vitali, the pilot of the stolen atomic bomber and an assassination attempt is made on his life via a sabotaged traction machine. Surviving the ordeal, 007 investigates the missing aircraft and approaches old CIA friend Felix Leiter for information. Leiter informs him that Capt. Vitali's corpse was found a mile from the spa last night and suspects that the missing nukes are on the island. Bond approaches wealthy treasure hunter Emilio Largo at a local casino and gathers information on his large vessel, the Disco Volante, moored just off the coast. Bond attempts to swim underwater beneath Largo's boat, but is nearly killed. He subsequently approaches Largo's girlfriend Domino Vitali in an attempt to gain her favour, saving her from being poisoned by a sea urchin and informs her that Largo killed her brother, asking for help finding the bombs. While Largo is out drinking with his men, the pair search the Disco Volante with a geiger counter. His suspicions confirmed that the weapons are on-board, Bond approaches the Deuxième Bureau for assistance and is confronted by SPECTRE assassin Fiona Kelley, who attempts to kill him. After a brief struggle, Bond shoots her. Liaising with the CIA and the Deuxième Bureau, 007 conducts a raid on Largo's ship by submarine. Both vessels suffer damage and Largo is eventually shot with a speargun. Skyfall In London, an MI6 safe house is hit by the mercenary Patrice and a hard drive containing details of undercover spies is stolen. Arriving at the Bladen safe house, James Bond and Eve Moneypenny find a dying colleague and give chase after the fleeing mercenary through a busy market in Notting Hill. At Kings Cross, the pair confront Patrice and Moneypenny opens fire, misses and inadvertently hits Bond. Patrice escapes. In the aftermath, 007 drinks away his sorrows with a 'friend' until he is eventually called back to action by MI6 and is put through a fitness test. Locating Patrice, M sends Bond to bring him into custody. He follows Patrice into a tall building where the two fight, but he falls to his death before Bond can learn of his employer's identity. Bond finds a poker chip intended as payment, which leads him to a casino near Picadilly Circus. He is approached by Séverine, Patrice's accomplice, and asks to meet her employer. 007 wakes up on a yacht, to find its owner staring him down - Raoul Silva. Long considered dead, the vengeful former MI6 agent from Station 'H' (Hong Kong) has turned to cyberterrorism, and orchestrates a series of attacks on MI6. 007 is subsequently rescued via a miniature radio provided by Q, but Silva escapes and rocks London with a series of explosions; leading to the court house where he plans to assassinate Gareth Mallory (M). With MI6 in ruins, Bond and Q rearm at a weapons stash near a plant, just past Moorgate, and prepare to hide M. Bond draws Silva to Stratford where he makes his stand and kills him as he attempts to exact his revenge against M. Spectre Part 1 After a rough couple of months, M recommends that 007 take some time off and orders him to take as long as he needs. Travelling as "Mr. Simmonds", Bond heads to Mexico City during its Day of the Dead festival. After arriving, 007 dines with Felix Leiter, who takes the spy to meet his local colleague, Luiz Quinonez. He has been investigating an address that was of interest to terrorist and SPECTRE operative, Marco Sciarra - an apartment which had recently been rented by Gallo, a cartel smuggler known for moving narcotics and explosives across the border. With the address of Sciarra's rendezvous in his possession, Bond meets with arms dealer Oliver Arsenault to procure a sniper rifle for the job. The spy then acquires the money to pay Arsenault via a high-stakes poker game arranged by old love interest, Estrella Luna. Afterwards, as Estrella takes him on a cultural tour of Día de Muertos, Bond secretly stalks Sciarra through the streets. Taking her back to his hotel suite, he excuses himself and leaves through the window, crossing the rooftops and acquiring the weapon Arsenault had left there. 007 eavesdrops on Sciarra using a laser microphone and discovers they are plotting a terrorist bombing on a stadium. They notice the laser in Sciarra's cigarette smoke and Bond makes his only available shot through a nearby briefcase, which turns out to be the bomb. The resulting explosion undermines the foundations of the building and Bond narrowly escapes, as does Sciarra. 007 pursues him to a helicopter which lands in the crowded square. Both men board the aircraft and in the ensuing struggle, Bond steals Sciarra's distinctive ring and kills him. He dispatches the pilot and takes control of the helicopter, setting a course for home. Gameplay Agency management As Commander of their own Intelligence Agency, the player determines their Agency's strengths by allocating Attribute Points (AP) to various Agency Attributes. Attributes include Energy (a regenerating resource used for completing Missions), Stamina (a regenerating resource used for battling other players and boss Villains), Offence (increases attack success chances and damage against enemies), Defence (reduces enemy attack success chances and incoming damage), and HP (helps you survive longer during enemy engagements). Players earn Attribute Points by levelling up their Agency (5AP per level), gaining Intel in story Missions (1AP per Intel) and progressing in Conflict. Agencies can further customize their organization by choosing from four Specializations, which each have a set of unique unlockable powers that can be acquired and upgraded - 'technician' (supporting allies), 'spy' (critical hits), 'security' (damage mitigation) and 'commando' (single-target damage). The powers can be used to defeat enemies and help Allies. Powers are unlocked by levelling each Specialisation and can be acquired via Specialization Coins earned by engaging in Alliance Wars and Villain confrontations. Agency assets As the game progresses, players collect Agents via in-game currency, real money, or are rewarded for completing special missions. Three agents are selected from the player's collection to form a 'field team' who are used during Missions, Villain confrontations, Duels, and Alliance Wars. Each team slot provides specific buffs to the agent assigned to it (eg. the 'operative' slot allows the assigned agent to gain experience by completing Missions). The strength of each agent is based on offence/defence attributes, experience level, rank and rarity. Agents come in four rarities - common (white), uncommon (green), rare (blue), epic (purple) and legendary (gold). The rarest agents have the best attributes and the highest maximum experience levels, with common agents being the lowest rarity and legendary being the highest. Each agent special abilities or 'talents', which are activated when the agent is assigned to the Field Team and has a complimentary set of Gear that can provide special bonuses. Agents can be trained to increase their Rank and improve their base attributes and maximum experience level; either by merging two identical agents or using any three agents of the same rank/rarity and a special item called an "Enhancer". Gear is the second major asset of the player's Agency. Gear is used by Agents and the Field Team in every activity (except for Missions). There are several varieties of gear: gadgets, clothes, vehicles, weapons and special gear. Use of gear is automatic and can be obtained using in-game currency, found as loot in Villain confrontations, earned from Handlers, in Conflict and during Alliance Wars. They can also be crafted in the Q-Lab using the appropriate materials looted from Villains. A number of gear pieces can only be acquired through crafting. Items are crafted over a real-world duration of time. Facilities are the third major asset of an Agency. They provide steady money income, boosting Agency and Agents' attributes. There are four main types of facility: treasury (used to store generated in-game money), vault (to protect money from being stolen in Conflicts), income (to generate in-game currency), and bonus facilities for providing various buffs. Money generated by income facilities such as 'Universal Exports' are accumulated in the Treasury, which has a limited, but expandable, capacity. Players need to withdraw the accumulated money periodically to ensure that the Treasury is not completely full and prohibiting further income generation. Gameplay modes Missions Field missions are the primary source of in-game currency and experience (XP). Players spend rechargeable energy to complete missions, with each mission broken into multiple steps (each step requiring energy to undertake). Players can wait for their energy to recharge automatically over time, or can purchase additional energy instantly with premium currency. As players complete the steps they earn experience points which contribute towards levelling up; providing attribute points which can be spent on increasing the maximum energy/stamina cap, offence/defence stats etc. Missions are linked to each other, as completing a mission will unlock a new mission. Special assignments are another type of missions which become available once the player completes all Field Missions in a story-line. The more times the player participates the higher the chance to acquire higher-level Agents. Energy consumption is often much higher than Field Missions. Secret operations are unlocked after acquiring all the Intel from all the Field Missions in a story-line. Each region has at least one secret operation. Secret operations provide a free spin in the Store to obtain one free Classified Asset. Each operation is a set of stages similar to a Field Mission, but with a twist: players much acquire all the Intel from each stage to proceed to the next one. Villains Villain confrontations are tough boss enemies with a time limit which require a lot of Stamina to defeat. In exchange for defeating them players and their Allies receive experience points (XP), in-game currency, and loot such as rare Gear and/or crafting materials. Villains must be unlocked and called out from the Villains menu to begin a battle. Players can enlist the help of other players to defeat the Villain, with the loot distributed based on total damage dealt. The damage to Villains and the damage they deal to players is based on the attributes of: their agency, field team agents, and great that is brought to the fight. Villain enemies included re-imagined depictions of Dr. Julius No, Emilio Largo and Red Grant. Conflict Conflict is a player-versus-player mode (PvP) in which the player pitches their Field Team against an enemy team. Conflict comes in two variants. In Conflict: Duel the attributes of Agents, Gear and the player's Agency are added together and pitched against those of the enemy. The winner is the one who has the largest combined attributes. In addition, the victor loots some unprotected Money from the losing side. An attacker gains experience. Both parties lose HP with the losing party losing more HP. Each attack costs 1 Stamina. If the player's agency defeats the enemy, they can perform one of several Finishing Moves on them. Conflict: Espionage is similar to Duel, but the player's agency is not alone. If the player is in an alliance each Alliance member is counted as an Ally. Each Ally allows the player to bring more Agents and Gear into battle; adding to their combined attributes. Alliance Wars Alliance Wars are the final mode of play. They occur four times a day and each War lasts for two hours. Before a war, Head of Station and Captains may assign themselves and other Alliance members to Base Structures for them to defend their home base. One player in each Base Structure can be deployed in a Tank Slot. This player must be defeated before the other players deployed in the Base Structure can be attacked. Head of Station or Captains will also assign 3 objectives into 3 different Base Structures, with one objective per column of structures. The objective in each column must be captured before the next column of Base Structures becomes available for attack. During an Alliance War, the player's Alliance fights against another Alliance and their members attack enemy Base Structures using Actions, which will regenerate over time. The Alliance is awarded points for eliminating enemy Agencies and blowing up their building structures, finding enemy Objectives and exposing the enemy's HQ. The Alliance that receives the most points is the winner. Levels Soundtrack Reception The game received generally negative reviews from critics, with criticisms levelled at its choice of genre and free-to-play business model. In a review of the iOS version, 148Apps concluded that "...this game offers you a bunch of options to tap on and surprisingly little soul and personality". Likewise, Gamezebo offered similar criticisms, resulting in the title receiving a score of 2 out of 5 from both reviewers. Scoring the game 3 out of 10, Pocket Gamer lamented "Hardly deserving of being called a game, World of Espionage is a shameful use of a beloved licence" . Likewise, Andrew Hayward of Macworld concluded by saying "Pouring money into James Bond: World of Espionage does nothing to make it any more exciting, nor does it unlock the secret fun hidden within—there is no secret fun. It’s an absolute misfire of an espionage game, lacking anything resembling action or strategy." User reviews on the Google Play store remained generally more positive, fluctuating around 3½ out of five stars. Following the game's release, publisher Glu Mobile cut 50 jobs across three different studios in December 2015, a move attributed to difficulties in the second-half of the year which CEO Niccolo de Masi described as, "extremely humbling." Affected games included James Bond: World of Espionage, whose surprisingly poor installs and retention were attributed to, "creative decisions made in partnership with the licensors to avoid firearms and classic shooter mechanics." In November 2016, Glu Mobile officially announced that in-app purchases had ceased and the company would shut down the World of Espionage servers on December 30, 2016. Media Screenshots BOND_splash_iPhone.jpg|Splash screen on iPhone. World_of_Espionage_(1).jpg|Main menu 'home' screen. World of Espionage (3).jpg|Single-player mission selection screen (locked content in red). World of Espionage (6).jpg|Single-player mission introduction dialogue (Thunderball). World_of_Espionage_(2).jpg|Single-player mission selection map (Iraq levels). World of Espionage (4).jpg|Player vs. Player duelling system interface. World of Espionage (5).jpg|Cash shop currency menu (as of November 2016). World of Espionage (7).jpg|Glu's shut-down announcement pop-up (as of November 2016). Promotional images BOND_Social_1024x512_501.jpg| BOND_Social_1024x512_502.jpg| BOND_Social_1024x512_503.jpg| BOND_Social_1024x512_504.jpg| BOND_Social_1024x512_505.jpg| BOND_Social_1024x512_506.jpg| BOND_Social_1024x512-01.jpg| BOND_Social_1024x512-05.jpg| BOND_Social_1024x512-06.jpg| BOND_Social_1024x512-07.jpg| BOND_Social_1024x512-08.jpg| BOND_Social_1024x512-12.jpg| BOND_Social_1024x512-14.jpg| BOND_Social_1024x512-15.jpg| BOND_Social_1024x512-16.jpg| BOND_Social_1024x512-18.jpg| BOND_Social_1024x512-19.jpg| BOND_Social_1024x512-22.jpg| BOND_Social_1024x512-23.jpg| BOND_Social_1024x512-24.jpg| Woe_contest_inapp_690x960.jpg| CEO_Weekly_parody_promotional_image_(WoE).jpg| Videos James Bond World of Espionage Gameplay James Bond World of Espionage (by Glu Games Inc.) - HD Gameplay Trailer References See also *World of Espionage equipment list *World of Espionage facilities list Category:James Bond video games Category:Mobile games